Of all things, The Pudding does a wonderful breakdown of the Canadian board game, Crokinole. Many of my Canadian readers will already know the game, but it's not very popular outside of southern Ontario. That link describes the rules and references this semi-final World Championship match.
More on the One-Cheek Rule.
The Pudding does a deep dive on climate in 70 international cities over the next 45 years. Mouse your way to misery with data!
Last year they mapped record-high heat in the US:
The Pudding does a deep-dive into Rolling Stone's "Greatest Albums of All Time" rankings.
I'm not much of a fan of Rolling Stone, or the ranking of music in general, but thought this Pudding page was very well done.
My number one non-Jazz album of all-time is Veedon Fleece by Van Morrison. It's one of my most revisited pieces of art. I also love his album, Astral Weeks. And though I like some other here-and-there tracks by Morrison, most of his other stuff bores me.
Interestingly, Rolling Stone originally gave Veedon Fleece one star and called it "self-indulgent... pompous tripe." In 2008, they re-evaluated the album, giving it four stars and said he "never again hit the majestic heights of this one."
It's a favorite record of artists as diverse as Elvis Costello, Josh Klinghoffer (Red Hot Chili Peppers), and Sinead O'Connor, who said it was what she listened to right before going on stage.
You can check out the Pudding deep dive before or after you listen to Veedon Fleece on YouTube. They're both below.
